GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons baseball team will take to the diamond for a brand new OUA season with first pitch set to be thrown on Saturday, September 5 when the Gryphons host the McMaster Marauders from Hastings Stadium in a season-opening doubleheader. The Gryphons had an outstanding 2025 regular season a year ago, finishing with a 10-2 record and topping the OUA West Division. Ultimately, the team just fell short of reaching the OUA Final Four after being edged out by Brock in the OUA West Regional Qualifier. The Gryphons would see their 2025 season end at nationals after bowing out in the consolation bracket final in the double-elimination national championship tournament.
The 2026 OUA baseball season will see a new playoff format implemented across the province. The top two teams with the best regular season records in the OUA East and West divisions will qualify for the 2026 OUA Baseball Championships in Welland, ON from October 16 to 18 joining the host team (Brock Badgers) to make up the 5-team field. The 2026 OUA Baseball Championship will be a double-elimination style tournament. The 2026 Canadian University National Championships will take place in Ottawa, ON from Oct. 22-26 with Carleton serving as hosts.
"We are really looking forward to the 2026 season with the new and returning roster, and our coaching staff is beyond excited to watch this group go about their business," says Gryphons baseball head coach
Matt Stocco, who enters his second season leading the University of Guelph baseball team. "These young men have the ability to play clean baseball day-in and day-out. Our goal is to win, not only the regular season, but the OUA. The standard has been set and it's up to us to answer the bell."
Position Players
The Gryphons return one of the best position player groups in the league for the new season.
Jaylen Wood will patrol centrefield for the Gryphons once again. Wood is regarded as one of the best in his position with his glove in the OUA.
Evan Ogston returns to the top of the Guelph lineup, possessing power, speed and bat control to handle any situation, evident by his .417 OBP and .824 OPS. Ogston brings tremendous leadership qualities and leads by example as one of the team captains for the 2026 season.
Sawyer Whitaker is back behind the plate for his final season with the team as one of the team captains. Whitaker has been a consistent presence in the middle of the Gryphon lineup as he hit for an average of .357 and an OPS of .929 last season. The infield for Guelph is as solid as it gets with team gold glover
Jack Gillis manning the hot corner with
Noah Chang and Tommy Cullen up the middle. Zach McCabe brings plenty of versatility to the team and is able to play multiple positions while Alex Pieper is a threat at the dish with the ability to punish any pitch he sees. The outfield consists of four centerfielders that showed the gold standard on outfield play in 2025.
Nolan Scicluna returns to the team alongside Marco de Gama who one of the best run producers on the team with 10 RBI's last season.
Sam Kim and Brendon Cooper round out a deep Gryphon outfield unit.
Ethan Westfall is back to hold down a spot behind the plate as an important member to the pitching staff alongside AJ Johnston, who is a big, middle of the order hitting catcher.
Pitchers
The Gryphon pitching staff is anchored by
Daniel Meron. Meron returns for another season in Guelph as one of the team's top performers and leaders as a team captain.
Landon Hutar is back for his second season with the team after a fantastic rookie season in 2025 which saw him earn team rookie of the year honours. Hutar moves from a back-of-the-bullpen role into the starting rotation for 2026. Hutar had a 0.82 ERA and two saves last season from the bullpen.
Max Rutherford will make the transition this season as the team's high leverage and late inning role. Rutherford returns as one of the team captains and will use his experience in these situations as a massive part of the staff. Alex Picard, Kaiden Fung, Harry Young, JJ Reynolds and
Liam Karn all return to provide experience, stability and the ability to be one of the top pitching staffs in the OUA.
Rookies and New Additions
First-year recruits Adrian Crewe, Julian Frabrizio, Joe Pelow, Ray Gloria, and US transfer Vincent Bouchard-Wright all join the team for 2026. Thomas Blanchard, Will Jackson, Theo Toth and J.S. Deacon also join the team as walk-ons.
The Gryphons will get their 2026 OUA regular season schedule officially underway on Saturday, September 5 when they host McMaster Marauders in a doubleheader (12pm and 3pm) from Hastings Stadium. The Gryphons will be at home again on Sunday (Sept. 6) from Hastings Stadium for a doubleheader (12pm and 3pm) with Laurier.
